20 Million U.S. Telecommuters

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce cited a 20 million strong telecommuting workforce in a press release issued last Thursday. They said:

The report, Work, Entrepreneurship, and Opportunity in 21st Century America, cites government estimates that identify the broad scope of the entrepreneurial workforce, including: 27 million workers on flextime; 25 million part-time workers; 20 million telecommuters; 17 million Americans engaged in direct selling; 10.3 million independent contractors; 10.2 million self-employed; and some 24 million small businessesâ€”18 million of which are sole proprietorships with no employees. (Some individuals may fall into more than one of these categories.)

Reuters, the global information supplier, cited more statistics from the report than the Chamber of Commerce did in their press release.

The report showed one in six U.S. employees work from home at least once a week. Seventy percent of those telecommuters work for others, while 30 percent are self-employed, the chamber said, citing data from the Economic Policy Foundation.